Although red wine may not cause you to live longer, it may mean you could live healthier. Aging mice fed a chemical found in red wine were healthier in their twilight years, according to scientists.

The chemical – resveratrol – mimics the effects of a calorie-restricted diet which has been shown to give mice, dogs, and worms longer, healthier lives. Although resveratrol only extended the lives of obese mice in this latest study, it made all the animals healthier. They had healthier cardiovascular systems, and stronger bones than did untreated animals. The study – which was completed by the National Institute on Aging found non-obese mice fed resveratrol also had significantly lower total cholesterol.

The study offers yet more evidence of the possible anti-aging benefits of resveratrol – which is found in the skin of grapes and left on the fruit during red wine's fermentation.

Researchers gave one-year-old mice--that's middle-aged, in mouse years-- high doses of resveratrol, and it had a broad range of health benefits for mice, they confirmed. The mice had fewer cataracts, better bone density, healthier cardiovascular systems, and better motor coordination than did untreated animals, and resveratrol also made obese mice more sensitive to insulin.

Now, let's hope it will do the same things for humans!